Featuring my Marc Jacobs Little Stam. Lacquered Quilting from Fall/Winter 2010 Collection in Pink.
Peeking in:
Inside: Mini calendar, mini Coach Makeup Bag (gifted to me from the 2002-ish), Coconut M&Ms, small wallet, pens, iPhone
Contents spilled:
Inside my over-packed Coach makeup bag: Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge in Powder Pink, Edward Bess Afterglow Highlighter, Trish McEvoy Little Black Card with Nude Shimmer Powder, Shell Eyeshadow and Raisin Eyeshadow, Diorshow Mini, L’Occitane Hand Cream Fleur Cherie, Chanel Star Glossimer, Chanel Mica Mini Glossimer, Chanel Rouge Allure Laque in Ming, mini brushes
Some of you have asked about the way I care for my handbags and why some look brand new even when they are from around 2005ish. Care and maintenance is something I learned from The Purse Forum. I highly recommend visiting the forums there for tips. I view my purses as luxury goods which I handle with care. I only wear super dark denim with my darker purses. Lighter purses are worn with care (usually ok with denim after having gone through at least 3 wash cycles). When not in use, I keep them stuffed with the original stuffing and stored in dustbags out of the sun. When possible, I store them upright, if they are flatter bags, then I lay them on a flat surface in my closet or on my shelves and make sure heavy things aren’t set on top.
Most of the bags I own are still in fairly good condition. Do I have any bags that show wear and tear? Of course – it’s natural that things get worn down with use, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t usable. Wearing down and ripping usually occurs at the bottom corners – places that aren’t always highly visible but have frequent contact.
Again, I can’t reiterate enough how helpful The Purse Forum is. I’ve found tips by designer since certain brands have different styles by material and finish. Of course I’ve been guilty of a number of no-no’s. Carrying pens, hand cream and nail polish in my bag is like an accident waiting to happen. So far, no catastrophes yet for me – but it’s bound to happen one of these days. Sometimes I just throw in what’s convenient and forget what I put inside until a week later.
Anyways, hope you all have a great week! Hope it’s a short one for the US girls and that you get a few days off for the holiday 🙂
I’m slowly getting into YSL. It’s one brand I have long resisted but every once in a while something catches my eye. The holiday collection has the most beautiful highlighters this season with the new touche eclat-type highlighter and soft sparkling pink pressed shimmer powder.
I may be the one lone woman who doesn’t like the Touche Eclat from YSL, but I fell in love with the Touche d’Or Golden Touch Highlighter ($40) for holiday. It’s named “golden” but on my skin it went on more neutral-champagne than gold. It has a beautiful sparkle finish. I personally found it a bit too sparkly for every-day wear on the face, but it’s lovely on the eyes. If you’re looking for a glowy cream highlighter without too much sparkle opt for NARS Luxor Multiple or Edward Bess All Over Seduction in Sunlight or Afterglow.
The pressed Metallic Shimmer Powder in Colorama ($65) is absolutely stunning. It comes encased in a metallic leather compact which is similar in color to the Pink Gold Nail Color. The powder is finely milled and goes on a light pink shimmer. On my Chanel Shell Teint Innocence skintone it’s not too pale that it’s frosty. It has a lovely soft glowy finish on my cheeks. I’m not the biggest fan of the compact design but at least it’s sturdy. The product is just so gorgeous that I can overlook the flashy packaging and still love this. I find this similar in concept to Armani’s Blush #12 – in the compact and swatched on the hand it looks too light to be a blush, but on the cheeks it gives a wonderful soft glow. If Armani’s #12 worked on you, then chances are you’ll really like this highlighter. If Armani’s #12 didn’t work, then perhaps you might find this too subtle. I do think the YSL will serve as a more pigmented highlighter for darker/tan skintones though. The Armani is sheerer in finish which is why it might not show up so well on darker skins.
Swatches on bare skin, one with high flash:
Outdoor natural light:
My local Bloomingdales had a national event with a lovely GWP which made the high price tag more justifiable. My favorite item out of all the goodies was the full-sized powder brush which I look forward to trying out soon.
Where has the time gone? In August, I featured a Chanel Rouge Noir 18 manicure with the intention of writing a dupe post shortly after. It seems I have lost track of time. Chanel Rouge Noir is one of those shades that has reached cult status as one of the most highly sought after shades. Is it simply because it’s hard to find? I’m not entirely sure. It is indeed a gorgeous dark chocolate cherry vampy kind of shade. I love how it will look reddish with one coat and get darker and more vampy with each progressive coat.
What makes Chanel Rouge Noir unique is the reddish base which prevents it from appearing like a straight black. It has a flawless glossy finish with 2 coats. It’s pure love. It’s currently available in the US in one of the Holiday Trio Nail Sets (with Rouge Noir, Gold Lamé reviewed here and Coromandel reviewed here). For those who don’t like Chanel, can’t find this shade or don’t want to splurge on a trio for 1 color . . .
The question is: Can you dupe it?
I pulled shades I thought would be similar. Some turned out to be very close, others not so much so. Here is Rouge Noir compared to colors from OPI, NARS, Rescue Beauty Lounge, Rococo Nail Apparel and Dolce & Gabbana.
I’ve swatched these with 1 coat and then 2 coats so you can see the reddish base in virtually all of these. What I find intriguing is Chanel Rouge Noir vs. Chanel Forbidden. In the bottles above, Rouge Noir looks darker. However when swatched the results are different. (See more vampy swatches here in different lighting.)
With a high flash you can see the reddish base colors come out:
One Coat Swatched:
Two Coats Swatched (Thick):
The verdict: Yes, it can be duped! My take: the closest colors I found are Rescue Beauty Lounge Au Chocolat and Dolce & Gabbana Dahlia (with 2-3 coats applied).
If you cannot find Chanel Rouge Noir #18 individually, no need to fret. There are quite a few colors that are similar. Even if the colors aren’t an exact dupe, the effect of each are similar enough that you can barely tell the difference from arm’s length. Hope this helps many of you!
A Rescue Beauty Lounge Au Chocolat manicure will be featured shortly. Enjoy the last bits of your weekend 🙂
I’ve been a long-time fan of Armani ever since I first saw it at the London Heathrow Airport back in 2001 for their natural looking elegant makeup line. These days their collections seem to have more pizazz with brighter colors that are anything but natural. I still love what they release. This Holiday, the Armani Gold Rush Collection has some beautiful options. My local Neimans didn’t have any testers for the new items but these days I feel familiar enough with the line I didn’t need to test anything to make my purchasing decisions. Also thanks to Karla Sugar (see her Gold Rush Swatches Part 1) I knew I had to have the black and gold shadows.
The items I picked out: Gold Rush Highlighting Shimmer Powder ($55), Eyes to Kill Shadows #13 Black and #15 Copper ($32 each)
The Gold Rush Highlighting Powder is a soft sparkly gold. It’s softer in texture making the shimmer powder pigmented and easy to pick up with a brush. (Some shimmer powders are harder in texture making the finish sheerer.) If you are familiar with the Spring Nude Contrasts Shadows (reviewed here), the texture and finish of the Holiday Shimmer Powder is similar. It’s somewhere in between finely milled shimmer and chunky shimmer with uber-tiny micro sparkles.
* the above photo shows the upper 1/2 with the mirror reflection so you can see the shimmer in different light, the powder is one color, not duo-colored
I don’t have large visible pores on my cheeks (just had foundation/powder on), but when I applied this over my cheeks – I suddenly had visible pores. I tried it again over a foundation/powder/cream highlighter, it had a much better result. It’s not SUPER sparkly but the sparkle is definitely visible. As beautiful as it is, I think this would be better suited for the eyes or décolleté – but that’s only my personal opinion.
Here it is compared to NARS Albatross and MAC New Vegas. From the swatches it’s hard to see the sparkle – I recommend clicking to enlarge for better viewing. The NARS is more finely milled but can go on frosty if applied to heavily. The Armani has no frosty finish, but has visible microsparkles.
The Eyes to Kill Shadows are AMAZING. The Copper Shade #15 is more of a golden-bronze rather than copper but I love it. This is a high sparkle color but blends out beautifully. The Black Shade #13 is a soft cool-toned black. They come with a little black cover inside. I’m not exactly sure what the purpose of these are – they don’t really seal the shadow since there is space around the cover once inside the pot. I’ll have to ask my makeup artist the next time I go. I completely forgot to check the silver shade.
The shimmer is very subtle but this is one of the few cream black shadows that give a soft smokey eye without looking too harsh. I found both blended better with the fingers than a brush. They have an interesting texture – not quite a cream, not a powder, not quite a mousse. It’s like a blend of all three types of shadow formulas. I recommend reading the description on Armani’s Website for a better description.
Left = #15 Copper, Right = #13 Black
* Numbers on the shadows have been updated and corrected, #15 is the Copper Shade, #13 is the Black Shade
Swatch comparisons to the other brands and colors:
Since they didn’t have testers of anything I passed on the lip items since I knew they would be bright. I did pick up a few more Rouge d’Armani Lipsticks (not part of the holiday collection) and the new Eyes to Kill Excess Mascara (all which will be reviewed in the near future).
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L to R: Le Metier de Beaute Whisper & Armani Holiday 2010 Shimmer Powder (to be reviewed soon)
Top to bottom: Chanel Star Glossimer, Laura Mercier Pink Diamond, Trish Irresistible Nude, MAC Oyster Girl Lipglass, MAC Gel Lipstick (on tube #3), D&G Perfection Lipstick
L to R: Paul & Joe Pearl Powder #01, MAC Naked Pigment, NARS All About Eve Eyeshadow Duo
OPI Hollywood Blonde Nail Polish, MAC Bare Study Paint Pot
MAC Bare Study Paint Pot, Paul & Joe Pearl Powder #01, MAC Naked Pigment, OPI Hollywood Blonde Nail Polish, Le Metier de Beaute Whisper Highlighter, D&G Perfection Lipstick, MAC Oyster Girl Lipglass, NARS All About Eve Duo, Chanel Star Glossimer, Laura Mercier Pink Diamond Lip Glace, Trish Irresistible Nude, MAC Gel Lipstick
YSL has a beautiful holiday collection this year filled with lovely metallic golds, champagne pinks and shimmery colors. I’m going to split up my reviews into two parts. First up are the Holiday La Laques ($20 each) in 139 Gold, 140 Pink Gold, 141 White Gold and two of the Holiday Golden Glosses ($30 each) in 38 Golden Champagne and 39 Golden Chestnut.
The Golden Glosses are typical YSL style and loaded with sparkle. They are on the sheer side and have the signature YSL gloss scent – sweet and like candy. These are non-gritty and smooth in texture. If you bought any of the Golden Glosses from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (#31, 32 or 33) then I’d say you don’t need either of these new holiday shades. The effect is similar.
Golden Champagne #38 is a soft pink with gold sparkle
Golden Chestnut #39 is a warm beigey-tan with gold sparkle
Comparisons to some other Golden Glosses. For many of these I can barely tell the difference in the tube unless I look at them closely in direct sunlight. Some have a different sparkle than others. There are some with a straight gold sparkle. Others have a multi-colored sparkled infused in the gloss. There are differences in the base color as well. Some have a more transparent finish while others have a more opaque creamy finish. All are still on the sheer side. Those wondering how these compare to MAC – the YSL Golden Glosses are like Dazzleglass Cremes without the grittiness. In my opinion the YSL are much better than MAC.
This is the first time I have tried YSL’s nail polishes so I won’t be able to compare these to previous shades. All I know is their number system drives me nuts to no end. Magazines will often list the products by name while the testers at counters are all labeled by number. Many times I’ve just given up trying to match the name and numbers. The holiday nail colors are frost-finished colors with rich pigment. The finish can be streaky if you’re not careful but the coverage is just incredible. The result is a high-shine metallic, almost foil-like finish.
Gold #139 is a pale gold frost
Pink Gold #140 is a copper pink-gold
White Gold #141 is like a sterling silver color (this is sheerer than the others)
The metallic nature of these polishes made it difficult to photograph. Here is one taken at an angle so you can see the color without the shine washing out all the color from the flash:
Photographed with a high flash:
Comparisons to other shades:
YSL #139 Gold Comparison Swatches:
YSL #140 Pink Gold & #141 White Gold Comparison Swatches:
Overall thoughts: I’ve been exploring YSL more and more lately. After buying several Golden Glosses I’ve found that most of them are pretty similar on the lips, so in the future I’ll probably stick to the regular non-shimmer shades. I found the Holiday Collection at Bloomingdales which only carries currently sold product, like most department stores. The other shades shown for comparison purposes have been discontinued meaning they were no where in any store to be pulled for comparison purposes.
I like the nail polishes for their excellent quality and rich pigment. I do find them a bit too metallic-y for my taste. I would have liked a more sophisticated shimmer rather than something that looks like chrome. Still I am impressed. The colors are unique and even in my extensive nail polish stash I don’t have anything quite like these holiday colors. I have Pink Gold #140 on my toes right now and I have to say it looks a lot better on the toes than the fingers.
Coming up soon: the Holiday highlighter and Gold Touche d’Or.
